The bill to amend the Criminal Procedure Act 2009 has been passed in parliament which means that High Court trials will no longer have assessors.
The bill was debated without delay under the Parliamentary Standing Orders 51 despite calls by the Members of the Opposition and the Fiji Law Society to seek public consultation on the proposed law before bringing it back to parliament.
Lay assessors were introduced into the criminal justice system through the Criminal Procedure Ordinance of 1875.
While speaking on the bill, Attorney General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says at present, the judiciary utilises only a small number of assessors in constant rotation.
Sayed-Khaiyum says a limited amount of assessors, being used too frequently, can lead to corruption within the system. He says this is further compounded by the fact that Judges ultimately have the authority to overturn decisions of lay assessors.
He further says given that lay assessors are sourced from members of the public without specific legal training, their views and decisions are essentially expressions of opinion.
The bill also says the Fijian judiciary and court system has matured significantly since the introduction of the assessor system more than a century ago. It says it is clear that the judiciary no longer requires the use of an out-dated and redundant system laden with a number of flaws.
Sayed-Khaiyum also highlighted a legal practitioner who has done many cases, Devanesh Sharma had said in 2017 that he believes the assessor system should be removed.
National Federation Party Leader Professor Biman Prasad says it would have been acceptable if the bill would have gone through public consultation through the parliamentary standing committee.
Prasad then quoted the Director of Public Prosecutions, Christopher Pryde’s presentation in the 2017 Attorney General’s Conference where Pryde had said in his view, the assessor system manages to capture the best features of a jury system whilst avoiding many of the disadvantages of the jury system. He further said instead of abolishing the assessor system we should be strengthening it and providing more opportunities for cases to be heard before assessors, including in the Magistrates’ Court.
Prasad also quoted the Fiji Law Society where they have said that assessors have played a critical part in High Court criminal trials for over 120 years and they are fundamental protection of an accused person’s right to a fair trial. The Society has said that the bedrock of our criminal justice system is that an accused person’s guilt or innocence is determined by his or her peers, by members of the community.
The Society has also said that removing public participation from criminal justice will reduce transparency and erode public confidence, and leaving the question of guilt or innocence in serious cases to a single judge, without an accused having a choice in the matter, is neither fair nor just.
Prasad raised the question why the bill is so urgent.
SODELPA MP, Tanya Waqanika called on the government to consult with people and not to take the civil liberties of the people as it will come back and bite you.
Minister for Commerce, Faiyaz Koya supported the abolition of the assessor system, saying the legal system needs consistency and it will also save taxpayers’ funds as money will no longer be spent on allowances being paid to the assessors.
SODELPA MP, Niko Nawaikula says he is concerned that after a one hour debate, the assessor system that has existed all this time, is being removed.
In his response, Sayed-Khaiyum says the Magistrates Courts have been sending people to prison for upto 10 years without assessors.
He says they have the ability to change laws as times and things change in society.
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